The event's most feisty exchange when he was asked a cryptic question about his past by his opponent Joko Widodo's running mate, Jusuf Kalla.

"You said that you will protect people from any form of discrimination and threats and uphold human rights," Mr Kalla said.

"So my question is: how would you resolve human rights violations that happened in the past and protect human rights in the future?"

Prabowo Subianto has been accused of a number of human rights breaches during his time as a military commander, including the alleged kidnapping of student activists in the dying days of the Suharto regime.

Jokowi shrugs off inexperience

The winner of the July poll will lead the world's fourth-most populous nation, which has more Muslims than any other country, for the next five years.

Both have promised market-friendly policies to revive growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy, which fell to the lowest in four years in the first quarter.

Mr Widodo appeared to have scored more points in the debate, but no killer blows, analysts said after the two-hour long discussion, in which the two candidates were accompanied by their vice presidential running mates.

"I don't think there were any knockout blows," said Paul Rowland, a Jakarta-based political analyst.

"I think Jokowi did what he needed to do and that was to perform confidently in a very public venue."

Mr Subianto, who was married to a daughter of former leader Suharto, relies on his strongman and nationalistic image to appeal to voters weary of what is perceived to be indecisive leadership under current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is due to leave office in October.

"We want to be a nation that is independent, that is productive," Mr Prabowo said, wearing a white dress shirt and a traditional Indonesian cap.

"We want to stand on our own feet."

Joko Widodo, wearing a dark suit and red tie, looked to stress his man of the people image and reputation for good governance.

"Democracy for us is listening to the voice of the people and carrying it out," he said.

"That's why every day we go to villages, markets, riverbanks, farms and fish auctions, because we want to listen to the voice of the people."

Mr Widodo represents a clean break from the elite and often corrupt old guard that has ruled Indonesia for decades.

His rags-to-riches story and common man approach have made him popular and he is seen as having a clean, can-do approach that has catapulted him from small-town mayor to governor of the capital and presidential favourite within two years.

Some people believed he and Mr Kalla carried the day despite Jokowi's inexperience on the national stage.

"Jokowi and Kalla are more convincing because they answered questions based on real examples during their time serving in the government," 21-year-old student at the University of Indonesia, Aloysius Andrew said.

"That shows they can do better if they are chosen."

Both candidates said they would strengthen the country's popular anti-graft agency, the Corruption Eradication Commission, which has exposed high-level corruption and arrested cabinet ministers, company executives and political leaders despite limited resources.

"They were both successful in framing themselves in the way they want to be portrayed in this election," said Tobias Basuki, a political analyst at think tank CSIS.